


Second Chance

by lin_beifong_stan



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:42:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26380597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lin_beifong_stan/pseuds/lin_beifong_stan
Summary: After 3 long years in the Southern Water Tribe, Kya returns to Republic City and tries to revive the relationship she once had with Lin.
Relationships: Lin Beifong & Suyin Beifong, Lin Beifong/Kya II, Lin Beifong/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 91





	1. Chapter 1

Kya stared at the heavy door with the great flying boar of the Beifong Family carved into it.

It had been over three years since she had last seen or heard from Lin. Their goodbye had been brief since they thought it would only be a few weeks before the saw each other again. Oh, how wrong they had been.

Korra took far longer to heal than expected, and the threat of Kuvira didn’t give them time to reconnect when the master waterbender had finally returned to Republic City.

Even after the Great Uniter had been dealt with, Kya was busy healing the wounded and Lin was all but consumed by the necessity of her work.

The worst part, though, was how the healer had left things with her former lover when she left.

They had agreed that they wanted to be together properly, not some strange recurring fling whenever they were in the same area, and that they would work everything out when Kya returned from the South Pole.

Lin had never been great at communicating her emotions when they were growing up, and it had only gotten worse with age, so Kya had been shocked when the metalbender said she loved her.

The darker skinned woman foolishly feared that responding honestly, to reciprocate the sentiment, would only tie her down. She hadn’t said it back or even acknowledged the significance of what had been said.

She didn’t write to the officer when she was down south, and she felt that she had ruined her chance with the police chief.

Kya looked down at the key in her hand, that she’d kept safely in the drawer of her nightstand and checked for every day when she was in the Southern Water Tribe.

Would Lin still love her? Would Lin give her a second chance? Would Lin even want to see her?

She sat down with her back against the wall across from the door and took several deep breaths, trying to keep the tears at bay naturally before giving in and letting them fall, bending the teardrops away so they wouldn’t stain her cheeks.

The woman tried to think of what to say, and she could only think to apologize. The metalbender probably wouldn’t want to see her, anyway. The first two and a half years had been bad enough, but she probably knew by now that the last six months down south had nothing to do with healing the avatar.

Kya resolved to do the best she could to be a better lover to Lin if she was given the chance.

The ever familiar sound of metal cables rang in her ears, and she looked up in time to see Suyin clearing the railing of the staircase with Lin in her arms.

Zaofu’s matriarch soured upon seeing the waterbender and took a deep breath. “I have some words for you, Kya, but not now. Just heal Lin. Don’t you _dare_ speak to her.”

The waterbender nodded, shocked by the aggressiveness of the younger woman, and quickly unlocked the door before stepping inside and rushing to find something to collect water in.

While she did that, Suyin practically carried her sister to the table and set her on the stone top before bending off what remained of the officer’s armor.

Kya pulled water from the large bowl she used as a container and applied the healing properties before easing it around the chief’s head. “What happened?”

A pained look crossed the face of the younger of Toph’s daughters, who grasped her sister’s hand. “A building started collapsing, and Lin got caught in the head with a sizable chunk of cement when she was trying to get people out. She wouldn’t even have been in the area if I had stayed in Zaofu instead of coming to this damn hearing on what Kuvira’s done.”

The master waterbender opened her mouth to say something, but closed it before uttering a word. She knew Su wouldn’t want to hear it.

Lin groaned softly and opened her eyes the tiniest bit. “Is everyone alright?”

The matriarch sighed. “Yes, Lin, you saved everyone else. You also got very hurt. You’re in your fifties, Lin! You need to stop being so reckless!”

At this point, the head wound was about as treated as it could be with water bending, and Kya found the bandages in the same place they had been for over a decade.

When she was finished bandaging her former lover’s wound, Suyin pulled her to the far end of the hall and started into a harsh whisper. “Listen very closely, Kya, because I’m only going to say this once. Do _not_ involve yourself with Lin again and play with her emotions. She’s been through a lot, and she doesn’t need someone so unreliable. Don’t say I’m misjudging you, because that’s exactly how you hurt her three years ago. You hurt her worse than Tenzin or I ever did. You _broke_ her, and she doesn’t have time to be emotionally broken right now.”

The waterbender’s jaw tightened. She hadn’t even considered that Lin would be anything other than angry with her, and she was stunned. “And what if Lin decides to try initiating a relationship?”

The younger of the metalbenders softened her expression, if only for a moment. “Be gentle with her. I’ve only had my sister back for a few years now, and I don’t want to lose her again.”

There was an audible groan from where Lin was laying on the table, and suddenly they had much more important things to concern themselves with than arguing.

Lin’s eyes were nearly closed, and she didn’t bother trying to keep them open. Suyin was there helping her, and so was some waterbender she had yet to identify.

She wouldn’t ever admit it, but her sister was right. She was getting old.

The police chief wasn’t sure exactly what had happened when she was trying to clear people out of the collapsing building, but her head was throbbing, and the blinding pain in her skull had only receded after the attention of the unnamed healer.

Presently, Suyin and the healer- a woman only slightly taller than herself, from what she could guess with one arm around her shoulder- were helping her to bed.

The metalbending officer wanted to argue, but found that her head was too fuzzy to put together and voice a proper sentence.

For what felt like the millionth time, she wished Kya were there.


	2. Chapter 2

Lin slowly made her way out to the kitchen the next morning, pinching them bridge of her nose in a useless attempt to ward off the groginess.

For a brief moment, she thought she was hallucinating.

It was the only viable explanation as to why Kya was sitting at the table, stirring her tea with her bending as she read the morning paper, just as had been her routine whenever they spent the night together.

The beautiful waterbender glanced up from the paper and cleared her throat. “I know we have a lot to talk about, and you probably don’t even want to see me right now, but I need to check your head first.”

The metalbender nodded stiffly and went to sit beside her, refusing to meet her eyes. She hoped being cold would protect her from Kya like it had almost everyone else in her life.

The healer put her hands on the other woman’s face, holding her still to examine the closed wound, and the Chief found that she would not, in fact, be able to avoid her feelings.

The Beifong melted under the older woman’s touch and only realized she was hugging her when healing water had been applied to disappate her headache.

She carefully pulled away and took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. “When you left…it hurt.”

Kya reached for her hand, but stopped when she thought better than to do so yet. “Lin, I’m so sorry for acting like such a hog-monkey. When you told me how you felt, I was afraid of how quickly we had gone from _figuring things out_ to _love._ I should have written when I learned that Korra was going to take longer than expected to heal, and I should have come back to Republic City when she left the South Pole. I have no reason for why I didn’t do either of those things.”

The cute pout on the chief’s face deepend into a frown, but the waterbender continued. “My stupidity was inexcusable. I thought about you every day that I was down south, and there’s so much I should have done differently. I should have told you how much I love you, and I know I don’t deserve a second chance, but will you let me back into your life?”

Lin was silent, staring at the floor as she processed what had been said.

Kya loved her.

With a deep breath, the paler woman leaned close and pulled her into a tight hug. “Let’s start over. We’ve both changed, and it’s going to take time to adjust.”

The healer vehemently agreed. “I won’t mess up this time.”

The officer rested her head on the darker skinned woman’s shoulder and pressed her forehead to the woman’s neck. “I missed you.”

The taller woman placed her hand comfortingly on her back. “Do you wanna talk about other stuff now?”

The metalbender lifted her head reluctantly but was rewarded with her old lover’s gentle touch to the face. She smiled softly as she spoke. “I’m a lot closer with my family now. I actually visit Zaofu every now and then….”

She trailed off when the waterbender kissed her forehead. It was a gentle touch, but all it did was fuel her burning desire for a proper kiss.

Kya leaned in as though reading her mind and wanting to fulfill her desire, but the younger woman turned away at the last moment.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, kissing her cheek instead. “It’s going to take time for you to trust me like this again, and I understand. I would really like to kiss you, though, so please tell me when that’s something you would be comfortable with.”

“I heard that you’ve been the one Mako goes to for treatments on his arm,” Lin remarked, changing the subject. “You did a good job with him. He can bend with both arms now, and he’s almost back at a hundred percent. It would have been a shame if he had to leave the force, so thanks for that.”

Kya nodded in acceptance of the praise and cleaned up her tea. “It was a long process, but with a few more sessions he should be back to lightning bending with that arm as well.”

She looks over to find that the woman she pined for was now leaning against a bare spot on the wall only a few feet away, with her eyebrows furrowed as though thinking on how to say something.

The waterbender walked over and grasped her hands, bringing them to her own face. “I know we aren’t close like we used to be, but you can tell me whatever it is that’s bothering you.”

“You should know I started seeing someone else a little while after you left. We were together for a couple years, and we ended things a couple weeks ago,” the police chief explained. “Her name is Hinata. She’s from the fire nation, and she put up with my job a lot longer than I expected her to.”

Kya’s mind was reeling. All those years they saw each other on and off, they never had actual relationships with anyone else. Lin had _replaced_ her. She wanted to be angry, but she knew she had no right to be. “Why did you end things?”

Lin shrugged. “She cheated on me. I should have expected it. I didn’t spend enough time with her.”

The older woman’s mind was still racing. She had so many questions, and she wondered how much this would complicate her potential for a second chance with Lin.


	3. Chapter 3

They had settled into an uncomfortable silence after Lin delivered the news that she had been seeing someone else. Both were thankful when a knock at the door disrupted the mood, and the police chief answered the door.

Kya watched her expression turn to one of shock before she motioned for the person at the door to enter the apartment.

A short woman with golden eyes walked in as though she knew the apartment well, and set a box of various items down on the table. The box contained a few articles of clothing as well as frames that still had pictures in them and a few other items she couldn’t quite identify.

She was significantly shorter than Lin, but beautiful nonetheless. Her eyes were piercingly golden, her hair was strikingly dark, and the red in her clothing only complimented both of these details. Judging by her musculature and the scarring of her toned arms, she was a nonbender who had found a line of work that involved combat.

She was about as opposite of Kya as any woman could physically look, and judging off the fact she had cheated on Lin, wasn’t too similar in an emotional manner either.

The woman she assumed to be Hinata turned and faced Lin, reaching up to caress her cheek. “I know I was only supposed to be returning your stuff, but I wanted to let you know I miss you. I’m sorry I cheated on you.”

The Beifong pushed her hand away, and was apparently caught off guard when Hinata leaned up and kissed her.

The host jumped back and answered with a glare when the fire nation woman had the audacity to ask for another chance with Lin.

The waterbender saw how uncomfortable the metalbender was becoming and cleared her throat. “Hi, my name is Kya. I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Hinata looked over at her with an unreadable expression. “Kya, as in Lin’s ex-lover Kya?”

The healer nodded, and the fire nation woman left without another word.

The police chief sighed as the door slammed behind her, and she hung her head in shame, gladly accepting the embrace of the taller woman.

Avatar Aang’s daughter placed a comforting hand on the back of the other woman’s head, gently running her fingers through the short, thick hair. “Emotions can be tough to deal with. I know. Do you want me to leave and give you some time to yourself?”

“No,” Lin mumbled sheepishly into the darker skinned woman’s shoulder. “Stay.”

“Come on,” Kya encouraged, guiding her over to the couch and grabbing the bowl of water. “Let’s sit down.”

The Chief of Police sat down on the couch and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

The healer carefully applied the healing water to the younger woman’s head and watched as the stresses look on her face slowly dissipated.

Before long, she found herself with the woman’s head in her lap with one hand rested on her thigh as she drifted in and out of sleep.

The waterbender smiled softly when the metalbender seemed to finally fall into a deeper sleep. She continued to apply the healing water, trying to work out more of the stress that weighed down Lin.

A soft click and a quiet creak were the only things that alerted Kya of Suyin’s presence. She looked over toward them he younger woman and gestured down to Lin with her chin.

“I thought you healed her earlier,” the matriarch remarked. “What’s happened now?”

“She still had a decent sized headache, and Hinata dropped off her things, which seems to have aggravated the headache and induced more stress,” Kya explained. “That’s what I’m working on relieving now.”

“From the position she’s in, I take it you two are together again?” The leader of Zaofu questioned disapprovingly.

“We’re taking things slow this time,” the healer replied. “But yeah, I think so.”

Lin stirred from her sleep and sat up, holding onto a state of bleary-eyed ignorance for only a moment. “Su, what are you doing here?”

“I came to say goodbye before I returned to Zaofu,” her sister replied, pulling her into a tight hug. “You‘ll visit for Huan’s birthday, right?”

The police chief grumbled. “Send the information the month of and I’ll try my best. Goodbye.”

With that, the younger of the Beifong sisters was out the door, and the elder of the sisters plopped back down on the couch.

Kya gently placed her hand on top of the other woman’s. “So, how are you feeling?”

The corners of the metalbender’s mouth tilted upward the tiniest bit. “Better. My head isn’t throbbing anymore, so that’s good.”

She saw how the silver hair woman was more relaxed now that Suyin was gone. “Has Su been bothering you? She’s gotten a bit overprotective since we patched things up. It’s strange, considering I’m the older sibling.”

“She’s just been looking out for you,” the healer replied. “Rightly so, I guess.”

Lin opened her arms to offer one of her incredible hugs, and the older woman gladly accepted, resting her head on her shoulder and stretching out her long legs.

The police chief kissed the top of her head. “I think it’s because she understands what a powerful effect you have on me. You make me act impulsively and without thinking. Strategically, you’re very bad for me, but spending time with you makes me happy.”

“Act impulsively how?” Kya asked, kissing the other woman’s scarred cheek.

“Like hugging you,” Lin explained. “I like having you in my arms again, but it makes me want to stay here instead of going to work, and your scent is going to be distracting me all day. Not to mention, whatever the spirits kind of medicine the healers have Saikhan on have strengthened his sense of smell, and if he gets a whiff he’s never going to let me here the end of it.”

“Lin Beifong participating in casual banter with a coworker?” The waterbender teased, pressing her lips to the famous scars once more.

The metalbender grumbled something under her breath and pulled her closer, tightening her grip on her waist. “We’ve been working together for thirty some years. I can make _some_ friends.”

The healer smiled and laced her fingers in the free hand of the other woman. “I guess that if spending time with you is distracting, kissing you would be off the table?”

The police chief studied her face as though trying to find any hidden intentions.

Apparently, she found none, as she cleared her throat and leaned in close. “The damage has already been done, so I don’t see what other harm it could do.”


End file.
